$175 is not very much at all. Wedding photography is the hardest form of photography there is. You have a great deal of responsibility resting on your shoulders. You only get one chance to get the shots and they have to be right.

If they want you to be the only photographer and are paying you then the very least you need is two camera bodies as well as lenses and flashes to go with them. You never know when a body or lens might fail. You also need lots of spare batteries.

Put it this way, there is no way on Earth that I would ever be the sole photographer at a wedding.

Phil's right Drill - it may sound like a good hourly rate, but that's one hell of an hour! You need to plan your shots before hand, discuss them with the couple, then make sure you get all the required shots on the day. Backups for everything - body, lens, flash, battery, memory cards etc - are all essential!

But if you get it all sorted, do a good job, enjoy it, and most importantly satisfy the couple's demands, you could have yourself a nice new career!

When my wife and I got married we bought a package including the photographers time and 3 albums of photos rather than paid an hourly rate. I have no idea what the hourly rate would be but our photos cost at least £1000 ($2000).